A friend told me his skidsteer burned up. I asked if I could fix it and he said I could have it if I paid him a little because he was going to scrap it. It's a case 1838. I'm kind of excited to have it so I can move logs and hay. We poured dawn soap on the tires to slide it on/off his trailer. It worked great. He said the fire started at the battery and then burned all the oil/woodchips in the belly pan. It burned during the night and into the day before he found it. The hydraulic lines are gone and so is the wiring. One of the directional sticks just flops around. The hydraulic tank is empty and the oil must have all burned when the hoses burned off. The hydraulic pump was right in the fire, so I hope I can salvage it with a seal kit. The front of the motor is black. Has anyone fixed one after a fire? What should I expect? I plan on tearing it down to nothing and then putting it back together one piece at a time, with new parts where needed. I don't care how many hours it takes because I need something to move wood and hay. If I have to use a 20hp briggs and a logsplitter pump, it'll run. I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience fixing one that burned. I know it needs a new harness, hydro lines, battery, seals, gaskets, etc...
That seems like a pretty good sized undertaking, but you sound like you have the patience for it. Good luck and keep us posted
I was expecting to see a black hunk of steel with the tires burned off. I think you found yourself a deal! Take plenty of pictures as you tear it down, it will save you later when you try to figure out how things were. Good Luck with your project !!! and keep us posted.
I've rebuilt several pieces of heavy equipment after a fire. Double check or replace all bearings that were involved. The extreme heat ruins them and if you don't catch them the first time through you'll get to do them shortly later.
Instead of looking for a seal kit on the hydraulic pump I would look for a rebuilt pump. You have a pretty cool project there. Congrats.
Fill the engine crankcase with a Diesel & ATF mix if the engine oil got baked in/on. Don't start it obviously, but that will help dissolve the coked up oil. Pull the drain plug first to see what you get. If you get motor oil in about the amount/condition you expect, disregard the above.
